The present invention relates in general to land vehicles, and, more particularly, to bicycles.
The gear changing operation in a typical multispeed bicycle requires the rider to remove his hand from the handle to operate the gear changing mechanism. This requirement induces an unsafe situation as some control of the bicycle is lost during such operation. Furthermore, when a cyclist is changing gears, he is not able to quickly operate a hand brake, and should an emergency arise, the situation is exacerbated by the requirement that the cyclist has his hand removed from the bicycle handlebars during a gear change.
Accordingly, there is need for a gear changing mechanism which permits simultaneous control of speed change and braking which also permits a cyclist to maintain both hands on the handlebars.